DAY 5 no smoke!

[jimmyrig]

So it is my fifth day with out a sweet, cigarette. I am using the gum and it is working soooo far. This is probably my third time quitting. But I really feel this is going to be the one. The cravings are less and the agro is minimal. I am a little worried because it’s hard not to kill a pack while working on the jeep or at the bar over the weekend. What tricks have you all used? I keep small straws in my pocket just in case and always have a nicorette near by. I had to stop, 9 years of a pack a day was catching up. I know it is not as long as many but I started really young. I went in for my life insurance exam and I am paying double the norm because I smoke. My GF won’t come near me after I smoke, and the list goes on why I am quitting. But this time it is my decision. Sorry I am rambling on. So I pose another question I love a fine Cigar on Sundays with my father, I know I will have to wait a long time before I can join him again or do you think the stogies will send me back into cigarettes.? Cigars do not have the same chemicals as smoke but the NICOTEEN demon is there. Ok I off to chew a piece of gum…..

[nagal]

Keep going and don't stop!

The biggest thing that helped me to quit smoke was to stop drinking. I also took Zyban which is really Wellbutrin (an anti-depressant). That helped a ton but then again I was like a robot, could care less about everything while I was on it. It did work thought.

[jeepmuddin247]

Congratulations!

Congrats on the 5th day of not smoking! It ain't easy, but it will be worth it! Since you asked, I would try to lay off smoking cigars as well. Not the same chemicals as cigarettes, but still beat the crap out of your lungs/oral health/esophagus. When temptation arises, just try to remind yourself it will get easier with time. First few weeks are the ruffest. Best wishes & keep up the great work, your body will thank you for it & you'll feel much better.

When you get the urge to smoke, smoke tires instead! Long live jeeps.

[Jason]

Congrats! The thing about smoking is that there are two addictions. There is the physical addiction and a physiological one. The physical one usually is gone after a few days. In other words, ditch the gum. You are still making yourself dependant on nicotine. And I wouldn't smoke a cigar. As for the methods I used this time, I set a date and just quit. It's been 8 months and I do feel better. Good luck.

[jimmyrig]

Thanks alot guys, I am already starting to feel better.

[mikeythefireman]

Congrats!! The biggest tip I can offer for quitting is to remember at all times you are a non-smoker. This means never letting your guard down. Get some low stress hobbies that'll help you defuse your habitual smoking stressors.

You got it pegged in one, Cigars are just as bad for the addiction aspect as cigarettes. Cigars don't have a lot of the same nasty chemicals, although they do have enough of their own, but they've got 5-10 times as much nicotine. And you absorb that nicotine through the mucus membranes in your mouth without even inhaling.

Some people can smoke the occasional cigar without a prob, but I would never recommend it.

Lastly, always remember that the gum has nicotine in it. Be sure to wean yourself off the gum fairly aggressively. I had a buddy in the Navy who was addicted to the gum. He hadn't smoked in over a year, but he was going through the gum like crazy. And it's waaaayyy more expensive.

Good luck!!

At the end of every class I always told my students that they made the choice to start smoking and now they're making the choice to quit. It's not like Heroin or Alcohol, quitting doesn't kill you, it just really sucks going through it.


~Mikey

[mparker]

It's been a year for me now. I still get the grip for a cig every now and again, especially after a big meal.

The key for me has been to always remember that the discomfort is temporary, I may want a cigarette so bad I can barely stand it. But in 15 or 20 minutes, that feeling will wear off.

Think of quitting in two ways, first, you don't smoke, period. Not just one, not just today, never. That helps keep you going in the long run.

In the short run, you just have to get through the next hour. So just tell yourself that you are going to make it through this hour, then tackle the next hour when it comes the same way. You are strong enough to make it through an hour.

[blackZZR]

I stopped so long ago I forgot what it is like to smoke
now here is my best advice

some guys have a cig and feel like they have failed and start again
but instead of a failure look at how long you were without, and go for a longer time span, after all 5 days without shows you have resolve, you have proved that. so now you know you cwn go longer

good luck

[jimmyrig]

Thanks for the support........ Still going strong, I found working on the jeep is more productive because I do not have to stop every half hour for a smoke. I went to pechanga over the weekend and the smoke in there was killing me, eyes burning, throat hurting. It was a really good at driving the point home. I couldn’t stand the smell of my clothing. Now I know what my friends and family feel. They would always complain about me and I would just tell them to deal with it or stay away from me. Life is much better. I do not get the fits anymore, and the urges are getting less and less. Boy I wish I had done this years ago, think of the money I would have saved cigs$ higher life insurance premium$

[NAILER341]

Keep going and don't stop!

The biggest thing that helped me to quit smoke was to stop drinking. I also took Zyban which is really Wellbutrin (an anti-depressant). That helped a ton but then again I was like a robot, could care less about everything while I was on it. It did work thought.

same for me. i took the welbutrin as well. took it for about a month and a half, and did the rest on my own.
no drinking either, having been finished with that about 4 years before quitting smoking.
sooo i am nutty as a damn doodlebug, and cant even blame it on being drunk, high, or too many cigarettes

[TrAvELAr]

Be strong and fight the urges. You're doing good. I'm glad to see that you're quitting for you. That's the only way it ever works.

Good luck!

[dakuda]

I quit almost two and a half years ago (10/5/03), and it gets much better as the time goes on.

I just went with the cold-turkey route - pack a day to nada. I ran out one night, and did not stop on my way to work. The 4000th time finally stuck.

[NAILER341]

I quit almost two and a half years ago (10/5/03), and it gets much better as the time goes on.

I just went with the cold-turkey route - pack a day to nada. I ran out one night, and did not stop on my way to work. The 4000th time finally stuck.

:hijack: hey dakuda... welcome aboard.

[goodtimes]

I used the most expensive method ever. I bought a new truck. Since I REFUSED to smoke inside the truck (didn't want to stink it up), I finally (after a year or so) got tired of pulling off the damn freeway to smoke....so I just quit. It freed up quite a bit of money for truck mods....and of course the truck got traded for a jeep, and it just went downhill from there.

[blackZZR]

After 20 years of not smoking, I can sometimes go out and see a few freinds smoking on break and think, boy that looks good, just now I don't act on it
guess I am trying to say the erge pops up time and again, you just have been so long without you pass on it.